IO Interactive (Hitman: Absolution) was quick to note its own new Hitman game, and the franchise as a whole, is still kicking. Hitman game at Square Montreal? Dead. Totally separate Hitman game at IO Interactive? Alive.

Fearing the news and the clarification sowed some confusion among Agent 47 followers, IO posted an open letter to Hitman fans on the game’s official website this morning, definitively stating, “At IO-Interactive right now, we are building the next AAA Hitman game for PC and next-gen consoles.”

The studio also went so far as to provide some tasty tidbits. The as-yet unnamed Hitman project will feature a “globetrotting Agent 47″ who will stalk and take out targets in “open, non-linear” levels that IO describes as the largest maps it has ever created.

“The game concentrates on the core Hitman fantasy of using a wide range of tools to take out a diverse group of targets across expansive, exotic locations around the world,” IO states. “We are building this game on the backbone of the Glacier 2 engine, using the best parts and what we have learned through Hitman: Absolution and drawing inspiration from past titles like Contracts and Blood Money to fulfill the core Hitman fantasy.”

The studio also notes that Agent 47′s “magic pockets” will be no more and that Contracts Mode will make its return.

After Hitman: Absolution missed its mark, it’s good to hear IO is learning from its missteps and drawing inspiration from classics like Blood Money.

IO says it will share more details in the coming months. We’ll keep you posted.

]]>http://www.gamefront.com/io-interactive-details-next-hitman-game/feed/0Square Enix Will Let You Play Games for Free If You Watch Adshttp://www.gamefront.com/square-enix-will-let-you-play-games-for-free-if-you-watch-ads/
http://www.gamefront.com/square-enix-will-let-you-play-games-for-free-if-you-watch-ads/#commentsWed, 29 Aug 2012 19:42:02 +0000Phil Hornshawhttp://www.gamefront.com/?p=181840

Square Enix has something of a reputation for making playing the older titles under its publishing umbrella sort of difficult. Well, not difficult, really — expensive, more like. If you were to buy some of its old Final Fantasy games on iOS, for example, it’d run you north of $15 for games that are decades old.

But a new initiative by the company could be quite a bit more cost-effective for gamers. Square will let you play games in your browser — namely, Hitman: Blood Money and Mini Ninjas — in exchange for watching advertisements. The ads you watch equate to time in the game; when you run out of game time, you get funneled to a new ad to rack up more. You can also just pay for the game outright and skip the whole advertising hullaballoo.

The collection includes the second, third and fourth games in the series, leading up to Hitman: Absolution. We don’t know what the prices will be like just yet, unfortunately, but it seems we can expect the HD Collection around Nov. 20.